1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to technology for conveying media that is aligned by using an alignment member.
2. Related Art
Recording devices having a transportation means that conveys a medium, and a recording head that records an image of text or other content on the conveyed medium, are known from the literature. See, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Appl. Pub. JP-A-H09-39322. So that the medium is not skewed as it passes the recording head, such recording devices have an alignment member that can move to a forward position where the medium enters the transportation path, and a retracted position where the alignment member is retracted from the transportation path, and advance the leading edge of the medium to this alignment member to align the medium.
This type of recording device must accurately determine if the medium has been aligned by the alignment member, therefore has a plurality of optically transparent media detection sensors on the upstream side of the alignment member, and determines whether or not the medium is aligned based on the output of these media detection sensors. More specifically, the medium is determined to have been aligned by the alignment member if the medium is detected by at least two adjacent media detection sensors, but is determined to be conveyed through the transportation path in a skewed position if the medium is detected by only one media detection sensor. Whether or not the medium has been aligned by the alignment member can therefore be determined easily and accurately.
This configuration using transparent media detection sensors can easily determine if common paper media is aligned. However, if the medium has an area with high optical transmittance at its leading end (edge part) similarly to a laminated medium, light will pass through this transparent part. As a result, even if such a medium is aligned and touching the alignment member, the media detection sensors cannot determine that the medium is aligned and processes downstream from the alignment member remain idle. To solve this problem, a sensor for determining if such a laminated medium is aligned can conceivably be added, but this configuration requires a design change and inevitably results in increased cost.